The Trio: Before Pentatonix
by Paper Bitch
Summary: Before Pentatonix, there was The Trio. Kirstie Maldonado is new to Arlington High School. She'll makes friends, enemies, and find love. Join her as she encounters the highs and pitfalls of life in High School. Reviews are always helpful! Happy to take constructive criticism!
1. Chapter 1: Enemy

Enemy

My alarm's shrieks blares into my ears as it rings. BEEPBEEPBEEP! BEEPBEEPBEEP! It's only able to ring twice before my hand comes down and smacks the off button. I pull my comforter further over my head. Great, today is my first day at a new school, Arlington High School. I'm in eleventh grade, so at least I'm an upperclassmen. I just hope I'm able to make some new friends. At my last school, I didn't have a million friends, but I had to leave behind the four best friends that I had.  
I sigh when I hear the my mother knocking at the door. "Up up up, Kirstin! It's your first day of school!" Her voice is too perky for 7 in the morning. Somehow, my mother is one of those disgusting people who actually like morning. Excuse me if I'd rather lay in bed for another hour, resting, and waiting for the sun to actually come up.

"I'm up!" I shout lazily through the door. I rub my eyes and throw my covers to the end of my bed, springing up. My feet meet the soft lavender carpet and I trudge over to my dresser, grabbing a shirt that is made to look old. It's a sleeveless black shirt that advertises Pink Floyd, a band from the 60s. I also pull out some light blue jeans with factory-made holes in them, and a pair of black flats with little bows on them.

On my drive to school, I almost ran over a short, raven-haired boy in the parking lot. He seemed kind of cute, but I wouldn't actually ever approach him, especially after I almost ran over him. Unless, of course, it was to apologize. On the way in, I pull my schedule out of my faux leather bag.

BELL I: PRE-CALCULUS

CAMPBELL, ROOM 212

Hooray, I get to do a form of advanced math that I'll probably never use at 8 in the morning.

I walk up a staircase, assuming that it's on the second floor based on the fact that it's in the 200s, and find myself slamming straight into a tall blonde girl.

"Watch where you're fucking going!" She walks right past me and bumps her shoulder against mine roughly. Two girls follow her and sigh in disgust with my. I rub my shoulder a bit and walk down the hallway to my calculus class.

Mrs. Campbell is about my height, 5'5", pale and from Indiana. She has a baby and enjoys tea and spending time with her family. This is what I learned in the first fifteen minutes of my pre-calc. class. Well, at least I didn't spend that time learning calculus. I also learned a few of my classmates's names. There is Brittany, Serenity, Joshua, Carrie, Michael, Christina, Jordan, and Scott. The seats are all two people to a desk, and by the time I got into the class, there were only three seats available; one next to a Brittany, who gave me an odd look, one right next to Mrs. Campbell's desk, and one next to Scott. Scott is tall, blonde, blue-eyed, and very nice. He mentioned that he didn't recognize me, which then prompted me to explain that I'm new at AHS. He asked me about my schedule, and it turns out that we have three more classes together and lunch! And get this: invited me to sit with him! Of course I told him that I would. Scott told me that he liked me shirt and I asked him if he listens to Pink Floyd. He said he did and his dad owns ever album they've made. Scott seemed to really be genuinely interested with me. I'm just ecstatic that I've actually made a friend on my first day.

The three other classes I had before lunch -English, World History, and Spanish - were kind of just a blur. Scott wasn't in them, and I couldn't really stop thinking about him and my empty stomach. I made some acquaintances, I guess, but no lasting friends, really. When lunch finally rolled around, I got my food and Scott waved me over to a circular table where he sat with who I believe to be the boy that almost ran over this morning, and an auburn-haired girl who was chatting away with the shorter boy. I'm about halfway over to the table when I trip over someone's foot. Luckily, only a few people seemed to notice or care enough to laugh. I gather my lunch back together and see that the foot has stepped out in front of me. When I rise, I realize that it's the girl who I bumped into earlier.

"Listen here. Clearly you're new here, so I'm just going to let you know something. You don't want to sit with them. You'll want to sit alone or find some other loser like yourself to sit with, but not them." She says, staring me down.

"Tell her, Kayla!" One of her friends comments from the table. I roll my eyes.

"Whatever." I mutter and walk around her.

When I reach Scott's table, he immediately sits down next to me. "Oh my god, are you okay?" His eyebrows wiggle together and he puts his arm around me.

"Yea, I'm fine. She's just kind of..." I trial off.

"A bitch?" The other girl and boy chime in in unison

"Well," I pause. "Yea, kind of." I laugh a little. The boy leans over the table.

"I'm Mitch, by the way," Mitch flashes a smile "and this is Alice." He gestures to the girl. She smiles and waves to me. Did I see you in the parking lot this morning?" He winks at me. I grin and my face flushes red.

"Yea, I think I saw you too." I mutter. Scott raises an eyebrow and so does Alice. "Oh, my name is Kirstin. You can call me Kirstie." I shrug. If I just want to be called Kirstie, why didn't I simply introduce myself as Kirstie? Ugh, whatever.

"That's a cute name." Alice pipes up.

"Yea, it is." Mitch agrees.

My cheeks get pinker. "Thanks."

For the remainder of lunch, Mitch and Alice ask me a lot of the same questions that Scott asked me in our first bell. We laughed and joked and talked. I apparently only have lunch with Alice, but I have Choir, Chemistry, and Home Economics with Scott and Mitch.

During dinner, my mother asked me about my day.

"It was alright, I guess." I shrug and continue to eat my spaghetti.

"What do you mean alright? Did you make friends?" She gives me a weird look, as if she thinks I'm lying about something.

"Yea, I made a few friends." I say.

"Did you get into any fights?"

"Not really."

"What do you mean 'not really'?"

"I just meant no!"

"Kirstie..."

"It wasn't that big of a deal!"

"So you did?" She pries.

"That's not what I meant."

"Kirstie, you cannot just let yourself be a victim all the time."

I drop my fork and stare at her for a while. A long while. "I'm not hungry anymore." I finally say and leave the dining room. I run up the stairs to my bedroom and quickly close the door behind my before she can even protest. I lock my door and run over to my bed, sinking into it. I let my covers swallow me and drown in a sea of sleep.


	2. Chapter 2: Friend

[Author's Note: Thanks for the reads and the reviews! It's really encouraging to hear positive feedback! I've enjoyed writing this so far, and I hope y'all have all enjoyed reading it. This chapter is definitely longer than the first one. Enjoy! And remember to review/follow this story if you like it! Constructive comments are also always welcome.]

Enemy

Scott walks beside me towards the closest CVS, which is conveniently only a street over from Mitch's house. Mitch invited me over to his house for a sleep over. Scott didn't really need an invitation since he sleeps over at Mitch's house almost every other night anyway. While we walk, I say nothing and Scott tells me the story of how he met Mitch.

"So I was ten and I think that Mitch was nine, and there was this community theatre that was doing a production of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. I was cast as Charlie and I think that Mitch was Mike TV," he tells me. I can imagine both of them 6 years ago as their roles. I bet they were just the cutest little kids. "and anyway, during some lunch break or something during rehearsal, I remember thinking 'Oh my god, this kid is really good.' So I walked up to him and told him how I thought he was so talented, and he was just like 'Oh, thanks! But I already know that.' And I was like 'Okay, he is fabulous.' And we've pretty much been best friends since then." He says.

"That's a really cute story, Scott." I laugh a little. "You guys have such a cool friendship."  
His face turns a little pink, and it's so obvious because of his pale skin. "Aw, thanks. Mitch is really cool, he's my absolute best friend." He just smiles, his bright white teeth standing out in the darkening evening. I can see the annoyingly bright CVS sign and I feel my back pocket for my wallet to make sure that it's there. We're on our way to pick up some popcorn and candy, so of course we'll need money.  
Wait, where is my wallet? I feel my other pockets as my heart starts beating fast. I can't feel it, where is it? "Dammit! Scott, I'm sorry. I think I forgot my wallet, we need to walk back to the house." Great, now he's going to think I'm an idiot, and it's gonna be dark soon.  
"Oh, don't worry, girl, I have mine. I was gonna pay anyway." He says, shrugging. "I never go anywhere without my wallet. You never know when you'll need a few bucks." He winks at me.

When we finally reach CVS, we come bursting through the front door like a couple of ravenous wolves.  
"I'll get the popcorn, you get the candy!" Scott says. I bolt straight over to aisle 6 and run to the end. I snatch up two packages of M&Ms. I lift one of them to my nose and inhale the candy's sweet scent. God, I love the smell of chocolate. I grab three packages of skittles, a package of sour gummy worms, a package of regular gummy worms, and three Hershey chocolate bars. I turn on my right heel and stride over to the cash register, where Scott is standing and the cashier is ringing up a couple bags of popcorn. I throw the candy I retrieved onto the register and the cashier gives us a weird look, but he rings it all up and throws it into the bag.

"Your total is eleven-fifty." He watches as Scott pulls two fives and two singles out of his wallet.

"Just keep the change, I have enough in here." He laughs and shakes the wallet. There's a jingling sound as quarters and dimes and pennies all clatter together.  
"Y'all have a good night." The cashier calls as we walk through the sliding doors, our bag clutched in Scott's left hand. He smiles down at me.

"What?" I ask.  
"I'm just thinking, Kirstie."

I smile back at him as we walk down the sidewalk, gas lamps from people's yards lighting our way as we traverse back to Mitch's house.

"Y'all took long enough!" Mitch stands in the kitchen with his hands on his hips as we come through the front door. Mitch's house is beautiful. The kitchen is completely decked out with state-of-the-art cooking technology. It's got a mosaic back-splash on every wall, and a stainless steel dishwasher. His living room, which is view-able from the kitchen, has fancy paintings on every wall and a 60" flat screen TV with surround sound speakers that are placed strategically around the living room to be hidden but also have an amazing effect. There's also an extremely soft rug, a leather recliner, and a dark grey sectional couch. Don't even get me started on the bathrooms, I have never seen such a nice bathroom in my life.

"Well, you could have come with!" Scott laughs and drops the bag on the kitchen counter. "Candy and popcorn, per your request." He bows as if Mitch is of royal blood.  
"Thank you, servant." He laughs and looks in the bag. "Oh, who picked out the candy?"

"That was me." I grin a little. Mitch smirks at me. "You've got good taste."  
"Why thank you, your majesty." I laugh a little. Mitch take a bag of popcorn and pops it into his huge white microwave.

"So your mom is okay with you sleeping over at a boy's house?" He winks at me and I laugh.

"Well, all I texted her was 'I'm not coming home tonight, sleeping over at a friend's house. See you in the morning!' and I haven't really checked my phone since then." I shrug. "If she finds out and gets upset, at least she can't say that I lied to her."

Mitch nods. "I like the way you think."  
I can feel heat rising to my cheeks. I don't know why I'm getting so flustered. I guess I'm just happy to be getting so close to Mitch and Scott after only having met them at the beginning of the week. I shake my head a little bit when I realize that I'm just staring at the microwave. "Uh, so your parents are cool with me staying over while they're out of town?"

Mitch laughs. "Yea, of course. My mom got skeptical and asked if you were a girlfriend." He and Scott laugh at this and I just awkwardly smile.

"Why is that so funny?" I ask.

Mitch just shrugs. Scott looks at the floor. "No real reason, we just think it's funny." The blonde says.

"Oh. Okay." I just shrug it off and walk over to the microwave. 4... 3... 2... 1... BEEEEP! I hit the door release button and pull the bag out. "This smells so good!" I carefully open the bag. After it steams for a few seconds, I grab a few popped kernels and toss them into my mouth. "So what movie are we watching?"

"Rent." Scott and Mitch say in unison. I tilt my head.

"What's that?" I say as I chew on the popcorn.

Mitch comes over to me and stares me down with the widest eyes ever. "How do you not know what Rent is? It's one of the most amazing and beautiful musicals ever! And Idina Menzel is in it!" He shrieks.

I giggle. "Well what are we doing just standing here? Let's go watch it!"

Mitch grins at me from ear to ear. He runs over into the living room and I follow, bringing the popcorn and the candy bag, Scott follows behind me. Mitch takes the colourful DVD from the dark oak coffee table and pops it into the DVD player. He sets the movie up to play and I relax into the leather recliner. Mitch turns the lights out and joins Scott on the 'L' shaped couch and sits right next to him, leaning into him.

As the beginning song starts to play, I realize that it sounds familiar. "five-hundred-twenty-five-thousand-six-hundred minutes." The actors sing. Something about this seems familiar...

"Wait a minute, I think I've heard this song before!" I sit up. Scott looks over at me, the little light that the movie is showing lights up his face.

"That's not surprising. It's a popular musical song." Is all he says. I smile and relax back into the leather and let the beautiful music fill my head.

When the movie finally ends, Scott gets up and turns the lights on. I wipe away the tears that are running down my face.

Mitch giggles a little as he stretches. "Wasn't that a great movie?"

I nod and swallow the abundance of saliva that was brewing in my mouth. "Yea, it was really amazing." I continue to wipe away the tears.

"I used to cry every time I saw it." Scott says. "Wicked is another musical that I love, but it hasn't been adapted to a movie."

I nod. "I've seen it, it's really good. But I think that Rent is my new favourite."

Mitch stands up and grabs the last of the popcorn. "Same, girl." He says before munching on it.

"Thank you guys so much for inviting me tonight." I say as I stand.

Mitch waves me away. "No problem! You're our friend, Kirstie. Why wouldn't we?"

I just kind of shrug and look down at the carpet. "I just haven't really made a lot of friends since I got here. I don't know, I'm just really grateful to have y'all and Alice as friends." Scott and Mitch both come over and hug me. I hug them back quickly, and we all break from our huddle and sit back down into our spots.. "You guys are a couple of sweethearts." I begin laughing a little. "Oh, hey, why couldn't Alice come tonight?"  
Mitch grabs his phone. I assume he's looking for a text from her. "She said that she's grounded because she and her mom got into a stupid fight, and to party hard for her." He says without looking up from his phone. He sets it down on the coffee table.

"That sucks." I sigh.

Mitch turns off the lights again after we just chill for a while and turns on the regular TV. I stay up for a few more hours watching Friends. After a while, I look over and Scott and Mitch seem to be asleep. I turn the TV off and close my eyes, falling into subconsciousness on the thought of how grateful I am to be friends with such nice guys like Scott and Mitch.


End file.
